The article deals with the problem of Critical Buddhism advocated by Hakamaya Nori'aki and Matsumoto Shirō. These two Japanese Buddhist scholars maintain that Buddhism, particularly Primitive Buddhism is critical in nature, and they condemn the ideas of Buddha Nature, Tathāgatagarbha and Original Enlightenment developed in China and Japan as deviating from the fundamental Buddhist thoughts of pratītyasamutpāda and śūnyatā, thereby backtracking to the substantialism of the idea of Brahman in the Upaniṣads. This substantialism is what is called by Matsumoto the "Dhātu-vāda". The article argues that the ideas of Buddha Nature, Tathāgatagarbha and Original Enlightenment have nothing to do with the "Dhātu", and they all carry ultimately the meaning of empty (śūnya). In consequence, the similarity and analogy between Dhātu and Buddha Nature, Tathāgatagarbha and Original Enlightenment is out of the question. Both Hakamaya and Matsumoto do not have a true understanding of these important ideas in Mahāyāna Buddhism.
